Visualisations using Open Source Education Data.

I have made this code Open Source and fully documented on my GitHub page




Overview of Challenges Facing the Higher Education Sector



Number Challenges
1 The digital revolution
2 Rising demand for places
3 Pensions and pay industrial action
4 University autonomy and the Office for Students
5 Brexit and EU students
6 Racial inequality
7 Recognition for professional services teams
8 The campus of the future
9 Rising student expectations
10 Technology and digital innovation the norm
11 Operating in a global context
12 Linking estates strategy and the student
13 Attracting and retaining the best talent
14 Rising costs and shifting funding
15 Making research sustainable
16 The growth of consumerism
17 Shrinking profitability margins
18 Increasing competition
19 Shifting industry requirements
20 Brexit – the great unknown








Focus on the Effect of COVID-19 on Higher Education for the rest of this document




Community cases in a particular region will determine future lockdowns and therefore online offerings

5 Open Datasets:

  1. data.gov for COVID-19 data

  2. geoportal gov.uk GIS regional boundaries

  3. ONS data regional population estimates for case rates

  4. HESA numbers in HE by Institution

  5. Unistats HESA Latitude and longitude HE




We can obtain Higher education institution education and plot on a map of England





There is open data for regional numbers of COVID-19 cases - plotting this we can see a general trend of peak cases.





Combining this data on the map with higher education location can give us a Shiny App (open in separate window)




Graduate outcomes pre COVID-19 and during COVID-19

Open Data: HESA Data














Student Wellbeing and Experience during COVID-19

‘The Student COVID-19 Insights Survey includes information on the behaviours, plans, opinions and well-being of higher education students in England in the context of guidance on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.’ SCIS Data

1. Since you started in the Autumn term 2020, how satisfied or unsatisfied are you with your academic experience? For example - learning experience or academic support.

2. Since you started in the Autumn term 2020, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with your social experience? For example - sharing time with others, meeting new people or having access to sports and fitness facilities